1/14/09

Cooking dry beans in the slow cooker

Looking back at my dry beans series, there's one part I left out: cooking dry beans in the slow cooker. It's definitely an easy and worry-free way to go. Here's how I do it:

Rinse

Pick your beans over to get out little rocks, dirt clumps, and anything else that shouldn't be there. Put them in a strainer and rinse them well, until the water runs clear.

Soak

Put your beans in a bowl or pot, and cover them with twice as much water. Leave overnight, anywhere from 8 to 36 hours. If you don't like the thought of leaving them out on the counter, you can put them in the fridge.

Although you can get away without soaking beans if you are cooking them in your slow cooker, I would still recommend it because it helps later with . . . shall we say . . . abdominal discomfort.

Cook

Pour your soaked beans into a strainer and rinse well, until the water runs clear. Dump into your slow cooker and cover with water by several inches. I have a four-quart slow cooker, and one pound of beans is a good fit.

Cook on high to avoid phytohaemagglutinin poisoning. Kidney beans are highest risk for this, so I would recommend that if you are cooking kidney beans in your slow cooker, that you bring them to a boil on the stove before transferring to your slow cooker. Although risk of phytohaemagglutinin poisoning is low and it's not dangerous, it's still good to avoid!

16 comments:

The slow cooker is how I cook my beans 98% of the time! I haven't ever heard of the poisoning. We mostly cook pinto beans, and I rarely remember to soak overnight, so I always do the quick soak method of bringing to a boil, then letting stand for an hour (or less if I'm in a hurry.) So I guess we're safe.

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Awesome post. I keep thinking that I want to cook some beans, but I haven't put the effort into it. I am planning to start soaking some tonight..thanks for posting this easy way of putting them in the slow cooker.

I always cook beans in my slow cooker. I don't ever soak my beans when I cook them this way, I rinse them after they have been cooked and we don't have problems with...how did you say it? Abdominal discomfort. :-)